Happy New Year - Quick Update

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope everyone has started this year off on a good note. All in all we have our sights set on improving things for the coming year. I personally hope to update this blog more regularly (hopefully about once a week).

As a quick update... Dave did hit the JACKPOT on his new toy. And I have the picture to prove it. Just before the jackpot hit, Dave's mother was taunting him and telling him that his slot machine is rigged and would never hit a jackpot. They were just messing with it to kill some time and he hit the jackpot within a few spins while his mom watched. He got a big kick out of that.

Oh, and to let everyone know, Thanksgiving went well. We had, I think, 44 people total throughout the afternoon and evening come through the house. Of course, I have no pictures, since I forgot to take any. There was more food than we could eat and leftovers like crazy. After a week or two the leftovers got thrown out; there was that much!

Since Christmas (well, a little before for Dave) there have been a few sicknesses running through our family (and friends). Dave is getting over his third illness and Julia and I are just getting rid of a (minor) case of the sniffles and little cough.

I have been pretty busy running around for home and work and everything since Thanksgiving so I've been a little slow on the blog upkeep. I'll have more updates to follow really soon.

Julia at Five Months

So she turned five months last Wednesday. I finally got around to taking pictures (the naked ones) a few days later to remember the occasion. I also weighed her (me on the scale, then me and her on the scale) on Friday. She is now 13.6 pounds.

"On the road again!" Julia can now reach for her little car toys. She loves her little mousie, but not the bunny so much.

We got this great contraption called the Bumbo. It helps her to sit up without someone holding her there. This picture does not show the "proper" use, since it warns against use on raised surfaces (like our counter top). But she can watch me make breakfast or dinner this way. She is normally position somewhere in the middle of the large kitchen island counter top to watch dinner prep. I never leave her unattended (and she only sat on this small counter top space long enough for me to make 2 1/2 minute Cream of Wheat).

Naked baby alert! Here are a few cute ones. Just Julia and her smiling face. I love this little rocker. It is just her size right now.

Oh how she loves her Exercauser! She can now spin around in it and stand on her feet (or tippy toes). I've already had to move it up one notch since she is growing. (You're not supposed to let the babies stand flat footed in the Exercauser.)

Cute Family Alert

So, all I wanted for my birthday was a family portrait. Dave and Julia humored me and we all went to Portrait Innovations on my birthday. Here are the results of that trip. I love Julia's expression in this one:

But Dave and I look a bit better in this one here:

And here is another cute one. I just love her laughing.

And we also had some cute pictures of the baby girl taken by herself. She is roughly 4 1/2 months, for those keeping track, when these were taken.

And hopefully I'll get one more update (Julia turned five months last week) before Thanksgiving. If not, it will be up soon.

Thanksgiving Details

Ok, so here is all of the pertinent information for Thanksgiving:

Dinner will be served at roughly 3:15 pm. I know this seems like an odd time, but hey, isn't any. For those of you who are always late, pretend it says 3:00 pm (or 2:30 pm for the really late). For those of you who are always early or on time, pretend it says 3:30 pm.

Out of everyone invited the counts equate to 25 adults and 10 kids who have confirmed that they will definitely be here for the festivities. There are also approximately 10 maybes or unconfirmed (of which I think half will show). So the food needs to be prepared for 40-45 people.

The menu is as follows:

Main Courses: Fried Turkey, Roasted Turkey, Spiral Honey Ham, Baked Ziti (or Lasagna)

Appetizers and Extras: Deviled Eggs, Veggies and Dip, Pickle (and Olive) Tray, Crackers and Cheese/Cheese Balls, Turkey Gravy, Yeast Rolls (Handmade), Cranberry Sauce

Side Dishes: Sausage Dressing, Bread Stuffing (from roasted turkey), Candied Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Macaroni Salad, Broccoli Bake, Tossed Salad

Desserts: Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, Pumpkin Rolls, Apple Cranberry Crisp, Brownies, and Cheesecake Bites

Halloween

The Great Pumpkin (a.k.a. Paw Paw and Grandma) came by a couple of weeks before Halloween and left Julia her first ever pumpkin. About a week or so before Halloween her Mommy (that would be me) carved the pumpkin while Maw Maw and Julia watched. So here is Julia with her first Jack-o-lantern. Aren't they both so cute?

And here is the cute baby girl in her Halloween outfit. (Not a real costume, but still cute.) Her shirt says, "this IS my costume," and her little hat is a jack-o-lantern. She also had cute Halloween socks, but no good pictures of them.

And here she is with a few of her cousins. First picture is Aunt Stacey, Julia, cousins Addy and Drew, and Stacey' mom Sandy. Second picture is second cousins Emily and Katie and cousin Sadie.

Just wanted to get this posted before it is too out-dated.

Thanksgiving Plans

Ok, so I am planning on doing Thanksgiving at our house this year. Most every holiday we spend running the roads from my mom's to my dad's to Dave's family (or something close to that schedule). This time everyone can come visit at our place and we won't feel as rushed, hopefully.

This means that, by inviting everyone, there may be 50+ people to entertain and feed. I also need to figure out exactly which dishes I want to take care of myself and which ones I would like for others to bring. I am very exciting to be doing Thanksgiving here at home! I am hoping that all goes well and it is not too overwhelming.

And just so no one feels left out or not invited, here is the preliminary list of everyone I'm hoping will show (all single adults are allowed to bring a guest):

Dave's Side: Mary (Mom), Betsy, Ritchie, Dylan, Brooke, Irene, Richard, Andy, Stacey, Addy, Drew, Tim, Sandy, Warren (Dad), Karen, Melissa, Jeff, Michael

Sharon's Side: Carol (Mom), Paul, Daniel, Gabriel, John, Casey, Vicki, Phil, Billy, Bill (Dad), Becky, Joel, Kristy, John, Alyssa, Stephanie, Jordan, Tommy, Jen, Miranda, Sadie

Maw's Side: Maw, Big Aunt Judy, Little Aunt Judy, Uncle Jerry, Ashley, Donnie, Tiffany, Travis, Jake, Aunt Margaret, Uncle Mike, Matthew, Mitchell, Maxwell

I'll add another post in the next couple of days with a list of food for everyone to pick from to bring to the house. Everyone can send me an email or call me to let me know whether you are coming or not and if you'd like to bring a dish or not. More to come later...

House Progress

We have been in the house for about four months now. We are starting to get everything put together. There is still something to do in each of the rooms, but slowly we are getting settled in. I hope to have pictures to show you all very soon.

For the quick and easy summary, here goes. We have a new master bedroom suite of furniture, but still need a mattress for the new bed. We need window coverings all over the house. Julia still needs to have a dresser purchased for her. Other than that it is just emptying the rest of the boxes. We have a new dining room table and china cabinet (and this is the only completed room). The living room is set up with all the furniture, but we need a mantle. The "game room" still needs the pool table to be finished. The kitchen is nice, although we still have to add the glass to the cabinet doors (and a few counter stools). There are still a few things to do in Maw Maw's space also, but she is pretty settled in now.

I'll try to update about the house and give you pictures again soon.

Julia at Four Months

Before I begin with all of Julia's four month update, let me just show you some of the cute three month pictures I forgot to upload last time.

And here is one picture that some of you will be getting next week (in the very late thank you cards):

Ok, so on her four month birthday we went to the Corn Maze at Bowles Farm with some of my family. Here's a cute family picture. It was quite windy and pretty cool outside.

And her Aunt Betsy got Julia the cutest little pajamas. (And they are more for me than for Julia, but she likes wearing them anyway.) Two pink elephants and it says "My Little Peanut." Now, isn't that just adorable.

And for the best of her four month pictures we have Grandma's beautiful dress. Julia looks so very cute in it.

And a close up of the smiling baby girl.

And her favorite part, the ribbon, she loves to hold on to it and chew it. So if you get to hold her when she's wearing this dress her pink ribbon is soaked with slobber.

And for her "vitals," Julia went to the doctor on Tuesday and the orthopedic doctor on Wednesday. She now weighs 12 pounds 3 ounces and is 24-1/4 inches long. She got vaccines on Tuesday (one oral and four shots). The orthopedic doctor said everything with her foot looks great and she does not need a cast or brace or to go back to the orthopedic doctor.

Julia Three Months

Here are a few pictures from about two weeks ago. She loves chewing on her hands and is now sucking her thumb. She is drooling like crazy, and sometimes fussy when chewing on her hands, so I think she is starting to teeth.

Julia is holding her head up fairly well. She cannot move herself around, but she can sit and lean forward in her exersaucer. Here's a cute picture of that. She doesn't understand how to grasp things or push the buttons, but she loves the lights and sounds.

Also, an update on her weight: As of September 26th she was 12 pounds even. I will have to weigh her again soon. I'll try to update again soon.

Meet the Great-Grandparents

Ok, so when I posted about all of the seven wonderful grandparents Julia has I said I would do a post on the great-grandparents too. I'm going to introduce you in chrological order of the pictures.

Here is a picture of Popo and Momo, my stepfather's parents (with Daniel and Gabriel). They last saw Julia when she was eight weeks in the womb (Thanksgiving of last year). Otherwise, they get to see her through pictures since they live in Texas. One day they will meet face to face (or at least on skype once we can get theirs to work).

Next is Papaw, my father's father. He last saw Julia when she was 35 weeks in the womb. Here is a great picture of Dad, mine, and Papaw's bellies.

And the great-grandmothers Grammy, my dad's mom, and Maw Maw, my mom's mom. They are just tickled by having Julia here. I think it's kind of funny that their youngest grandchildren are only a few years older than their great-granddaughter.

And last, but not least, here is Great-Granddad, my mom's father. He came up from Florida to visit just after Julia was born (just as Grammy did).

And hopefully Julia will get to see a lot of her great-grandparents in the future. I think it is wonderful to be able to have all of these generations to interact with.